The Skype Syncopation

by katladyd

Sheldon and Leonard leave for Germany to give a month-long lecture series at the University of Heidelberg. While they are gone, them and their wives learn some things about life, love, and friendship. This is a sequel to The Assistant Conundrum, so it's pretty much the same characters. Note: I don't own any part of TBBT, not one bit of it.

3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3: Welcome to Germany!

The guys arrive in Germany and someone is acting out.Guess who?

After a long and largely uneventful flight, Sheldon and Leonard finally landed in Frankfurt aum Main and disembarked from their plane. They both steeled themselves for the long trip through customs and were greatly surprised when they were whisked away from the other passengers and led to a small room where they were in and out of customs within fifteen minutes. Before they had time to ponder the reason for this they were ushered out of the room, handed their passports, and pointed in the direction of a serious looking young man holding a sign the read, "Hofstadter und Kooper".

Leonard began to chuckle in pleasant surprise as he pointed out the sign to Sheldon, "Look at that! For once someone got my name spelled correctly and messed up yours."

Sheldon immediately puffed up in indignation, "I fail to see the humor in that, Leonard. Let me go up to him and make the needed correction."

Leonard placed a mildly restraining hand on his friend's arm, "Leave it alone, Sheldon. He's probably not the one who made the sign in the first place."

"Leave it alone? Leave it alone? Would you be saying that if it was your name which was misspelled?"

Leonard kept a firmer hold on Sheldon's arm and explained to him, "Yeah, I would. It happens to me all the time. Come on. Let's go up to him and make our introductions."

"Very well. But please let me go first." Seeing the alarm on his friend's face, Sheldon quickly added, "Don't worry, Leonard, I won't make a scene." With that, he purposefully strode up to the man and introduced himself and Leonard with, "Excuse me, allow me to introduce myself. I am Dr. Sheldon Cooper, with a C, and my companion over there is Dr. Leonard Hofstadter."

Their host looked Sheldon up and down as if he were a lab experiment and replied, "I already knew who you were, Dr. Cooper."

"How is that possible?"

The young man gave him a bored look and answered in a matter-of-fact voice, "I was told to look for a tall man who looked like a praying mantis and a short bespectacled man with a rumpled jacket. It was actually quite easy to discern you from the other passengers."

Leonard finally made his way over to them and held out his hand in greeting, "Hello, I'm Dr. Leonard Hofstadter."

The man looked at Leonard, managed a small smile and responded to the greeting with, "Yes, Dr. Cooper has already explained that to me. Tell me something, is he always that anal?"

Leonard grinned and gave a short laugh, "Yeah, pretty much. You get used to it."

The young man gave a brief nod and told him, "I see. I have my doubts, but I will have to take your word for it." He then turned quickly and called to both men as he took off down the corridor of the airport, "Come, let us collect your luggage and get you two over to the university."

So, the three men made their way through the airport concourse, Leonard grinning and feeling like a rock star, Sheldon red with indignation, and their young host who seemed somewhat bored and annoyed with the entire endeavor.

Once they had collected their luggage, Sheldon and Leonard followed the man who had met them out to an obviously rented car and stowed their luggage in the trunk. "How far is it to Heidelberg?" Leonard asked him.

The man took his seat in the car, motioned his charges to do the same in the back seat, and then decided to give Leonard an answer to his question, "It is close to eighty kilometers, or for your edification, about fifty miles."

Sheldon once again took offense at the man's attitude and replied from the back seat, "We are scientists, I do believe we have the ability to convert kilometers to miles."

"I'm sure you do, I was just informing you of that because your partner had asked me that question. I converted it to miles in a friendly gesture, no insult to your intelligence was intended." His face, however, told another story.

Once on their way, both men attempted some form of conversation with the driver. Leonard began with, "This sure is pretty country around here. I think I'll take some pictures to send to Penny."

The man's eyes glanced at the rear-view mirror at Leonard, "Pardon me, but may I ask just who is Penny?"

Leonard grinned from ear to ear, "Penny is my wife."

"Ahhh. Yes, I was told you were both married. What does your wife do, Dr. Hofstadter?"

Leonard's chest actually puffed out at the question, "She's an actress. Right now she's appearing in a Tennessee Williams play in Los Angeles."

For the first time since their meeting, the man gave a genuine smile and warmly replied, "That gives us something in common then. My girlfriend is also an actress."

Leonard sensed a bond forming between him and their host, so he asked him, "Is she working right now?"

The man grinned and nodded, "Yes. She's appearing in Cats in a theater on London's West End."

"What is your girlfriend's name? Perhaps my wife has heard of her."

"I would highly doubt that, she is not well known outside of Europe. Her name is Annalise Gruber."

Leonard patted the young man on the shoulder and responded with, "I'll remember that for when she becomes famous."

"Thank you."

The conversation between the two men was cut short by Sheldon interjecting, "You know, I have a wife, also."

"Yes, I know. Your wife is a fellow scientist, is she not?"

Now it was Sheldon's turn to become proud of his spouse, "Yes. Along with one of our research partners we won the Nobel Prize for Physics last year."

The man nodded slowly and gave a wry grin, "Yes, I know. That is why you are here. But where is your wife?"

"At home, running our research facility. We have a young daughter and we both agreed that Lori was too young to travel to Europe."

For the first time, the young man happily interacted with Sheldon as he asked him, "Lori? That's an interesting name."

"Her proper name is Laureate." Sheldon explained to him.

"Because you won the prize?"

Sheldon shook his head and gave a further explanation, "Not exactly. No, Lori got her name because we found out we had won while my wife was in labor with her. By the way, young man, as of yet, you haven't given us your name."

"My name is Helmut. Helmut Hoffman. I am an adjunct professor of astrophysics at the university. Now back to the naming of your daughter, I suppose that is as good a reason as any. Do you and your wife have any children, Dr. Hofstadter?"

Once again, Leonard smiled broadly and seemed to grow a bit in stature, "We have a young son, Blake. He is slightly older than Sheldon's daughter. I miss them both, already."

Helmut commiserated with him, "That is understandable. With my girlfriend in London, it makes it very hard for us to find time to be together."

"Do you ever go see her?" Leonard asked.

"Every weekend. And we Skype quite a bit."

A puzzle look crossed Sheldon's face and he inquired of their host, "Why aren't you with her today? It's Saturday. The last time I checked, Saturday was half of the weekend."

Helmut's eyes narrowed and he acidly replied, "I was the lucky one who was assigned the duty of picking your two up at the airport. I am currently up for tenure, so I decided to raise no objections to that plan."

Leonard's face turned beet red and he mumbled, "Sorry about that."

Helmut was quick to placate Leonard, "Don't be. They have compensated me handsomely and next weekend I am using that money to take Annalise out somewhere special in London." He found himself liking the bespectacled little man more and more. Sheldon, however, was a different story. He was still on the fence about the annoying physicist.

Leonard grinned knowingly and replied, "Gonna propose, huh?"

Helmut's eyes grew wide with surprise, "How did you know?"

"You had that look in your eye when you said you were going to take her 'somewhere special'."

Sheldon gave an aggravated eyeroll and asked them in a peeved voice, "Can we end this banal chit chat and talk about our work we will be doing?"

Their driver gave a long sigh and then continued, "If you insist, Dr. Cooper. You will both be lecturing four days a week in a special lecture room located on the ground floor of your apartment building."

Leonard gave a surprised yelp, "Apartment building? I thought we would be staying in a hotel."

Sheldon began explaining their setup to his friend as if he were addressing a child, "Leonard, all guest lecturers and visiting professors are housed in quite comfortable apartments for the duration of their stay. The university is quite civilized in that way. You will find that the campus is located within the actual city of Old Heidelberg. There are restaurants, museums, shops, and libraries all within walking distance from where we will be staying."

Helmut nodded and added some additional information, "Yes. Dr. Cooper speaks the truth. Oh, by the way, I have made dinner reservations for the two of you at Schnitzelbank. It is an extremely small establishment and because the cuisine is far above ordinary it is usually quite difficult to get reservations for dinner there. But the university pulled some strings and I was able to secure you both a fine table for six o'clock tonight."

"That was an excellent choice, Mr. Hoffman. Leonard, Schnitzelbank is one of the finest restaurants in Old Heidelberg. I do believe I owe you a sincere, 'thank you', Helmut."

Helmut responded to Sheldon with a bored voice, "It was the University which arranged it, I merely made the phone call."

Leonard leaned forward from his seat in the back and replied, "Nonsense. Since we have met you today, you have gone above and beyond what was necessary. We both want to thank you for that."

Sheldon crossed his arms and muttered, "Speak for yourself, Leonard."

Time passed uncomfortably after that for the group in the auto, but soon enough, Helmut parked the car in front of a very tall, very modern, very white building and announced, "We are here. This will be your home away from home the next four weeks."

Leonard was the first to exit and he walked around the front of the building, staring in wonder at what he surveyed. Finally, he addressed his friend, "Sheldon, just look at those mountains. This place is like something on a postcard."

"Which I'm sure they sell at every gift store in town. Now, could you come back here and give me some help with this luggage?"

But Leonard just kept gaping at the scenery. He almost pinched himself to prove to himself he was not dreaming. The entire town surrounded the campus and the entire town was in turn surrounded by snowcapped mountains that vaguely reminded Leonard of Matterhorn Mountain at Disneyland. Only these mountains were very real and far more beautiful than anything manufactured by Disney.

"Hey, Sheldon," he asked, "do you think we'll get the chance to go up on one of those mountains and see it up close?

"Dear lord, why on earth would you want to do that? Isn't it cold enough right here? Really, Leonard, I think I'll just ship you back to the North Pole. Now, once more, could you give me a hand with this luggage?"

Leonard waved him off with a hand gesture, "Yeah, yeah, just a minute. I want to take all this in. We are really here in Germany, really, really, here!"

Sheldon finally poked his head out from the trunk of the car and sarcastically replied to his friend, "Yes, Leonard. We are in Germany. Which should come as no surprise to you as that is what it said on our plane tickets. Now, for the last time, please help me get our luggage out of the trunk."

Leonard made his way over to the car and helped Sheldon wrestle the last of their suitcases out of the car and onto the driveway in front of the building. Leonard looked toward the apartment complex and asked in a worried voice, "I wonder which apartment is ours, and how do we get all these bags and suitcases into the lobby?"

Sheldon's voice was at the same time filled with both hope and annoyance, "I'm sure Helmut will help us with that."

Leonard looked around frantically and asked, "Where is he, anyway?"

Sheldon joined his friend in casing their surroundings in a fruitless search for Helmut, "Hmmm. It seems he has disappeared. I suppose we are on our own, Leonard. Here, you take the garment bags and I will take the suitcases. It's the only way."

"Okay, buddy. Careful, some of those suitcases are heavy."

Sheldon turned back and threw Leonard a caustic look, "Thank you for that information, I wouldn't have known."

Somehow, the two men managed to wrangle all their luggage into the building's lobby and went over to the desk and asked a young man who looked about as disinterested in his job as Helmut had been, which apartment had been assigned to them. When they found out it was on the fourth floor they exchanged glances which conveyed both their angst at having to make it all the way to the fourth floor with their many bags, but also annoyance at the absence of their host.

Somehow, they managed to get all their bags and suitcases over to the elevator, but they encountered a great deal of difficulty fitting both themselves and their luggage in its small confines. They were both about to begin cursing when, as if on cue, Helmut Hoffman suddenly reappeared and help them fit everything in the elevator. Pushing the button for the fourth floor, he began to speak, "I know you will find your apartment quite adequate. It has two bedrooms, two baths, and a large kitchen and living room. You will each have your own private space with no problem."

Leonard grinned, "Good, I might need some privacy when I Skype my wife at night."

Helmut grinned, "I, too, have been there. That is why the university provided you men with separate rooms."

Sheldon looked puzzled and told both of them, "I have no idea what you are talking about. Are you going to be playing 'kissy face' with Penny? Really, Leonard. Have you not evolved at all beyond adolescence?"

"Come on, Sheldon. Don't tell me you and Niki aren't planning a little cyber naughtiness yourselves."

Sheldon began to understand what Leonard was getting at and asked him in a scandalized tone, "Are you talking about some form of virtual coitus?"

Leonard gave a small grin and replied, "Yeah, I guess you could call it that."

"I'll have to take a pass, then. You never know who could be listening in or somehow making your little love session public. No thanks. I am here to work and that is where my focus will lie."

When the elevator doors opened, Helmut took a sharp right and headed down the hall. Sheldon and Leonard each struggled with their luggage as they attempted to keep up with him. Finally, their host stopped in front of an ornate door with the number 404 emblazoned on it in an antique gold paint. He inserted the key into the lock and the door opened onto an expansive living room, done completely in blue and white. A long galley kitchen opened off immediately to the left of it while the bedrooms, each with its own bathroom, were located on a hall on the right.

Sheldon looked around with approbation and announced, "This will do just fine. Are there study areas in each bedroom?"

Helmut nodded, "Yes, each bedroom comes with a sitting area that contains a desk for work."

Sheldon peered down the hall and informed him, "I do believe I will take the first bedroom while Leonard can take the next. I most certainly do not want to hear his and Penny's carnal activities while I am attempting to work on my lectures. As I told you before, Leonard, I am here for serious work. I will have neither the time nor the inclination for such foolishness."

Leonard picked up one of his bags and commented, "Have you told Niki that? She might just disagree with you."

Sheldon put down the suitcase he was carrying and replied, "Leonard, Niki is a serious scientist. She will completely understand."

Leonard countered that with, "She's also a woman and I have my doubts. But anyway, let's get unpacked and get ready for dinner. That place that we're eating at, is it as good as Helmut says it is?"

"Most likely better. I have only eaten there once before, but the food was more than palatable. Now, I think we should go to our rooms, unpack, and take some sort of nap to help with our jet lag. I will meet you out here at five thirty."

Leonard made his way to his room and called back over his shoulder, "Make that five. Remember, Helmut said before we left for dinner, he was going to give us a tour of the rooms we will be using for our lectures."

Sheldon picked up his suitcase once again and responded to Leonard, "Yes, but the restaurant is very close to here. But no problem. I will meet you and Helmut out here at five."

After they had met Helmut and seen the two rooms they would be using for the lectures, each done in the same blue and white color scheme as their apartment and containing a small kitchen for any necessary breaks, the two friends headed off to Schnitzelbank for their first dinner in Heidelberg.

Leonard looked up from his plate of Schnitzel and remarked, "Helmut was right. This place is small, crowded, and the food is amazing!

Sheldon looked up from his dish of sauerbraten and acidly replied, "If my memory serves me correctly, and it always does, I also praised this place to you."

Leonard nodded and then returned to his meal, but not before saying, "Yeah, but you couldn't have gotten us reservations here."

Sheldon put down his fork and asked his dinner companion in a wounded voice, "Is that so? Leonard, why do you think we are sitting here?"

Leonard never looked up from his schnitzel as he answered, "Because the university reserved this table for us."

"And why do you think they were able and willing to do that?"

Leonard looked up and explained in a tired voice, "Because the school is the heart of this town and if they want to get someone a table anywhere here, they can."

One of Sheldon's eyebrows arched to ridiculous heights as he pressed his questioning further, "And why do you think they bothered to do that for us?"

Leonard took a sip of his wine and made a calculated guess, "Because we're important visiting lecturers?"

"Yes, but why are we important to them?"

Leonard finally capitulated and gave Sheldon his due, "Okay, it's because of your Nobel Prize. I get it. Still, Helmut was the first one who mentioned the place to us."

Before returning to his dinner, Sheldon made one last volley, "I suppose so, but I am also sure that this is only the first of many strings that the university will pull for us in the coming month."

With that, they both resumed enjoying their meal and soon, both of their plates and the shared wine bottle were empty. As they attempted to pay for their meal before they left, they discovered that the university had also covered their dinner bill. Leonard was both shocked and pleased while Sheldon merely considered it his due. Since the winning of the Nobel Prize, Sheldon had gotten very used to being treated as someone special within the scientific community and the resultant attitude he had adopted because of this was sometimes resented by his friends, especially Leonard.

"Sheldon," he warned his friend, "don't you think you at least owe a 'thank you' to both the restaurant and the school for this evening?"

Sheldon gave an extreme eye roll and explained, "No, not at all. Leonard, I have been dragged approximately six thousand miles from my home, wife, and child to be some sort of feather in their cap. It should be them thanking me for this entire month. And I am going to make certain that they do."

Leonard shook his head and decided to challenge his friend, "Oh yeah, real tough assignment. Give a one hour lecture twice a day for only four days per week. How will we ever be able to stand the strain? As far as our wives and kids go, I'm with you on that. But it's only for a month and look at this amazing venue we have been allowed to work in! This place is gorgeous!"

The taller man looked down at his companion, "Need I remind you, Leonard, that it's also the middle of winter and freezing cold outside? It is negative four Celsius. Back home, it is a vastly more comfortable temperature of seventy-five degrees Fahrenheit, or close to twenty-four degrees Celsius. You can keep this weather, thank you very much.""

Leonard grinned to himself and replied in a teasing way, "Spoken like someone who was born, raised, and currently resides in a much warmer climate. This weather feels like home to me."

"What, were you raised in a refrigerator?"

"No, in the northeastern United States. In New Jersey, to be exact."

Sheldon quickened his pace and responded dismissively, "Same thing, Leonard. Anyway, let's hurry home. It is almost time to Skype with our wives and children. Leonard's face brightened at the mention of his loved ones, "That's right! I can't wait to tell Penny all about this place."

"What, the city is bordered by mountains and has many restaurants, schools, and museums close by? That sounds very much like Pasadena, except for the miserable weather."

Leonard struggled to keep up with Sheldon, whose legs were much longer, "Whatever, buddy. I still can't wait to talk to her. Aren't you excited about talking to Niki?"

Sheldon nodded and quickened his steps even more, "I suppose. I am more than a bit curious as to how much research they got done today. Come, Leonard, let's get back to the apartment."

Leonard gave up trying to match Sheldon's strides, "Okay, Romeo, I'm right behind you."

Hmmm…what's up with Sheldon's 'tude?Will there be problems because of it?Knowing Sheldon, chaos and trouble may well ensue.